REFLECTION:

It’s only the second day of Lent, and already the Word of God confronts us with something direct and almost startling:

“Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.”

There is no soft beginning. No gentle warm-up. Moses places the choice plainly before the people — and before us. Life or death. Blessing or curse. Choose.



Lent does not begin as a self-help season. It begins as a crossroads. We sometimes approach these forty days thinking about what we will give up or improve, but Moses reminds us that something deeper is at stake. Every choice we make — even the small, ordinary ones — is shaping our hearts. Moving us closer to God or further away. Making us more spiritually alive or slowly numb.

When Scripture speaks of “life,” it means more than simply breathing and existing. It means flourishing in relationship with God. It means living with a heart aligned to Him. And “death” is not just physical; it is the slow drift that happens when we stop listening, when we harden our hearts, when we choose comfort over conversion.

The word that echoes most strongly is “today.” Not tomorrow. Not when life settles down. Not when we feel more ready. Today.

Lent invites us to choose in the quiet, daily moments: patience instead of irritation, prayer instead of distraction, generosity instead of selfishness, mercy instead of resentment. God does not force the choice. He respects our freedom. He simply lays it before us and says, “Choose life.”

On this second day of Lent, we stand at that crossroads. The invitation is serious, but it is also hopeful. It means the future is not locked in. It means grace is available. It means that even now, even here, we can turn toward life.

And it’s only day two.

Today, we can choose life.